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Welcome all dreamers, fantasists, bibliophiles, and romantics. Join me Mondays and Fridays for speculation about other worlds, exploration of the human heart and soul in fiction and fact, sojourns in history and science, advice and tidbits in the realms of story, and thoughts on everything in between...

Friday, February 14, 2014

Gracefully Falling: A Lesson from the Olympics

If you’ve watched the Olympics for any length of time, you’ll invariably notice that someone falls, slips, gets hurts, or meets with some other unfortunate event. I find these moments particularly interesting because, each time, assuming it’s physically possible, the athlete gets back up and keeps going. And that takes something special, a something, fortunately enough, we’re all capable of finding in ourselves.

If you listen to Olympic athletes and watch them, there’s one consistency that makes them stand apart from the average person. They always fall or fail. But here’s the important part: When they do, they always get back up and keep going. Failure isn’t a death sentence for them. It’s an opportunity. It’s where they learn. At worst, it’s a moment that they go through and then go by on their way to greater things.

This trait, the ability to view failure and problems as something to learn from or just part of the process, distinguishes all successful people. Look in any field and you’ll find dozens and dozens of examples.

The good news is that, anyone can make the choice to view failure as just a part of the process. Sure, for some, it may take more effort at first, but it’s a choice. The more someone makes that choice, the more habitual it becomes. Thus, the easier the choice becomes.

No matter what you want to achieve in life, don’t just never give up. Know you will always have times when you fall or fail, but it is just part of life, the process of learning and achieving. Know that and keep going. And one day, like those athletes in the Olympic arena, you will find yourself in the place that once seemed so far away. One day, you’ll look back and be amazed at how far you’ve come.

So, from here on out, choose to view falling and failure as just part of the process of achieving your dreams. Choose to fall and rise again with grace.